Black Dragons in Oak Park

Looks like it has almost been a month since my last post. I got lots to tell but not all of it today. I met these two guys in the photo whose names I will reveal later in my own back yard of Oak Park, IL. They are students of one of Doug Dwyer’s students. […]

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“…he had hands like a woman…”

I recieved a videotape of fight footage from England. It contained old black and white footage of fights with legendary point fighter Joe Lewis offering commentary with an unidentified interviewer. During his fight with Victor Moore he starts talking about Count Dante. Victor Moore was a student of Master Robert Trias as well. I have […]

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Origins of Larceny and Ironic Aftermaths or Say it Ain’t So, John

I found a report from the Chicago Tribune Sept. 9, 1968. There was a truck robbery after one of Dante’s tournaments. and many think he engineered this theft himself. Is this where his definitive fall into the dark side begins? Witnessess are still alive. I have already interviewed Art Rapkin. I have extra questions for […]

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Who did Crime Pay and a path to the Thrilla in Manila

I have spent the last few weeks studying details of the 1974 Purolator Vault Robbery for clues of Dante’s involvement. I blogged briefly about this back in March. I know a lot more now. None of the books about the robbery every mention a John Keehan or Count Dante. I have read Chicago Heist, and […]

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Missing Cleo…

Back in college days(part 1) one of my movie fantasies was Cleopatra Jones. Tamara Dobson was her real name. Tall, statuesque, beautiful. A movie goddess, black female James Bond kind of woman. Classy, sort of North Shore Hyde Parkish and kicked a little ass when she needed to. She did not have that earthy rough […]

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The Green Dragons: History and Discoveries

(This is the one year anniversary of my blog. Am I all Keehaned out yet? Almost. Long as I stick to the real research and avoid the bullshit I think I will be okay. I have another trip for an interview coming up real soon. fw) I was made aware of a book on hand […]

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Haines School 1963

1963. This is the year before my first meeting with Dante. Unbeknowst to me, the John Keehan and Bob Trias’s World Karate Tournament took place at the University of Chicago Fieldhouse that summer. I would hear about it. I would see pictures in the paper about it. My exposure to martial arts at this time […]

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1964 film footage…

My old buddy in Oak Park, Tom Palazzolo, filmmaker and artist gave me about 100 feet offootage he shot at the 1964 World Karate Championship at the Chicago Coliseum. that was organized by John Keehan. This is the tournament I attended after a hard says work in Chinatown at Guey Sams. As I look at […]

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Struggling to make sense…

And now we come to the chapter in which I describe the internet wars over the legacy of Dante and the Black Dragon Fighting Society(BDFS). What’s it all about? The conversation is going hot and heavy at their site right now After the blackballing of Dante in Chicago, primarily because the death of Jim Konsevic […]

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